Breaking Ground @ Teaching Children

Day 1 of construction brought a strange combination of feelings. There was the excitement that we, finally, after four years, are seeing our designs come to fruition. There was a slight bit of sadness from that the pulling up of the first stump meant the beginning to the end of our formal undergraduate education. There was an eagerness to work, in a way that, never before this studio, was a part of my Clemson experience. There was also a sense of reluctance and uncertainty to start this process of construction because of our lack of construction knowledge and the fact that many things are still up in the air. As the bobcat torn into the earth I began to think about the past four years of my life and how that the cumulation of all of it came to be symbolized by a city worker named David moving some dirt. Like the dirt that was taken from the earth, moved, shaken, and shaped, all the things I have studied and learned, worked on and done, has been a clearing and leveling of a foundational place for whats to come. Overall I am very happy we got started on our construction aspect of the process, but a few things still concern me.


The main area I am concerned with is the possibility that the restoration of the eroding creek bed, and all of the work, facts/figures, and learned knowledge may have to be discarded. I know that our class and our project stated that the canopy over the stage was the prominent issue, at the cities request, but I believe that we have a responsibility to keep the park functional by addressing it's most urgent need; the erosion. If you take your car in to get detailed and the detailer notices that your missing a belt in your engine, you don't just say o' well because it cost extra to fix, you get a belt so that your car will continue to run properly. I think that not addressing the erosion would be extremely detrimental to our project. I know that the ball is not in my court because I lack the monetary funds to even start to think about a restoration, but I will feel a great sense of disappointment even when we do finish the terrace seating and the canopy if something is not done about the creek. Our intervention will all be for not in 10 years down the road when our canopy and seating are taken into the creek due to erosion. And I know that no one wants to see that happen.
My other concern, which I'm sure will be resolved shortly, is that infill dirt has yet to be found. We have contacted many construction companies, but no one seems to need dirt hauled off. I'm sure that it is only a matter of time.



On to the brighter side of things, the school and studio south are officially in union and "Architecture Antics" will begin on the 12th of March. Teresa Skewes (after school director at Clem. Elem.) is sending out the permission slips this week out to the parents through the 3rd grade students who attend after school programs. Now that every thing is set and all agree on the after school program, as a class, we need to attend a 20 min. volunteer training program at the elem. school sometime before next week's end.